1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for automatically generating digests of image content or sound content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a person who makes a digest (to be referred to as a digest maker) manually makes a digest by cutting and/or connecting scenes selected by an image editor or cutting and/or connecting scenes automatically extracted by detecting breaks in the image content by using a computer. For automatically generating a digest, there is a method of extracting distinctive parts in which sound or image is changing in the image content, and, there is a method of extracting parts corresponding to predetermined time intervals in the image content irrespective of the substance of the image content.
When preparing the digest manually, it is very difficult to obtain a digest that is valued highly by audiences. Thus, it can be considered that an audience evaluates the digest first, and the result of the evaluation is reflected to the digest. However, it takes very long time to make a digest from a plurality of programs by such a conventional process.
If the digest is generated automatically, labor and time can be saved. However, a part that looks attractive for audiences is not necessarily included in the digest. Thus, no one knows whether the digest will be highly evaluated by the audiences. The digest may be used for advertisement, for example. However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technology, an effective advertisement cannot be realized.
In addition, a part that looks attractive in the image content may be viewed differently according to a user profile such as generation, place of residence, gender and the like. However, the differences cannot be reflected in the digest according to the conventional technology.